To Whom is the Bible Written?

The belief that the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelations, is written to the average Christian has caused no end of confusion and contradiction throughout history and makes rightly dividing it almost impossible. There are some parts of the Word of God that just don’t fit with other sections unless you understand who the part is addressed to.

Suppose I went onto my Facebook account and saw in my private message box one new message. I open it up and there it says my name. I know that it is addressed to me. Now if my husband opened up that message could he learn something from it? Yes. But was it addressed to him? No.

When it comes to the Word of God, we must see and understand that not all of it is addressed to us and those sections not addressed to us are for our learning. Okay, so let’s figure out the groups of people the Bible IS addressed to.

“Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor the the Gentiles (unbelievers), nor to the church of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:32

These are the tree categories. Jew, or Judean, Gentile, or unbeliever, and the Church of God. In Galatians 3:28 it says that a Judean can become born again and be one in Christ Jesus as part of the Church of God. The whole Bible is addressed to one or the other of these three groups. The Jew, Gentile or the Church of God.

Romans was written after the day of Pentecost, the day the Church of God was founded. The Church to which you and I belong.

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Romans 15:4

The things written before the day of Pentecost were not addressed to us but are for our learning.

Here’s another place where we are shown the same truth.

“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11

All scripture before the day of Pentecost is for our learning because it was not addressed to us. What is the difference between us and the men and women believers before us? No one could be born again and belong to the Church of God until the Church was established on Pentecost.

Then what about the laws of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers and the rest of the Old Testament? Are they addressed to us? No. To whom are they addressed? The Judeans or the Gentiles because the Church of God was not yet available. The Old Testament must be for our learning. It does not have our name on it but we can learn from it. For instance the Ten Commandments are not written to us but we can learn from them. I’ve heard many teach from radio stations, pulpits, and televisions that they were written specifically to us rather than for our learning. All scripture written BEFORE the day of Pentecost is for our learning including the Ten Commandments.

Up to this point, it’s easy to understand. But now take this key understanding one step further in accurately dividing the Word of God. To whom are the Gospels addressed? Is it a period of time before or after the Day of Pentecost? The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were all about the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ. They end with his ascension before the day of Pentecost. So are they addressed to us, those in the Church of God living after the day of Pentecost? Was it available to become born again by God’s Spirit before the day of Pentecost? No, because Jesus had not died and once he did die there was a fifty-day period of time before the day God poured out His spirit on all flesh prophesied about in the Old Testament, but never seen until Acts Chapter 2. (Joel 2:28)

Romans says, that Jesus Christ was a minister to the circumcision.

“Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of [to] the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:” Romans 15:8

Jesus came to Israel. The Gospels were addressed to the Israelites, or the Judeans. The Gospels are addressed at times to the Judeans and at times to the Gentiles, but never to the Church of God. Logically these four books belong in the Old Testament but one of the greatest errors of all time was putting them in the New Testament. Jesus came to fulfill the law of the Old Testament. He came to save his own people and be their messiah, their king. He was the completion , the fulfillment of the Old Covenant, the Old Testament. Therefore the Gospels must complete the Old Testament.

Had the Gospels been placed in the Old Testament rather than the start of the New much of the confusion we see in the churches would’ve been avoided.

I understand that this blog today might be hard for some to grasp, so tomorrow we are going to go over all the scripture addresses and why they are addressed in this manner. God has a reason for every word He placed in the Word of God. He also has a reason for where it’s placed, when it’s placed and to whom it is addressed to.

This cleared up so much of my confusion as a young Christian. Between today and tomorrow’s blog please read the first few verses in Romans-Thessalonians. Who are these books addressed to?